Perhaps a good way to monetise without alienating their core users would be to only advertise on the default subs. The vast majority of users are there, including the less technical users who might be more likely to actually consume the ads instead of ignoring or blocking them.
Another idea which I saw the Whirlpool forums do in Australia is to only advertise to those who aren't logged in.
If the sub-communities continue to thrive I can't see Reddit fade into obscurity any time soon.
I would've thought the opposite. The default subs have large numbers of subscribers (of course), but I feel like they don't have strong communities, or specific themes, that would appeal to an advertiser. Like... /r/funny? /r/creepy? /r/DIY? /r/IAmA? What would compel someone to advertise on those?
On the other hand, there are a good number of non-default subs that have strong themes that I'm certain advertisers would want to tap into. For example, city-specific subs, or /r/bodyweightfitness (105,212 subscribers), or /r/bicycling (126,713 subscribers). These communities are so specific that advertising seems like it would be more effective in those areas than any other. Of course... it needs to be done in a way that isn't intrusive or damaging, and that's probably a bigger challenge in a smaller community.
Are you sure? One would expect that most new product launches or major sales would be linked to by users for free. Additionally, all the major vendors are already linked to in the sidebar wiki posts...
Major vendors, yes. But there are a lot of small run or custom accessories that would sell quite well if they had more exposure. The wiki in the sidebar is good, but what about when a company comes out with a new set of keycaps? Getting that information out can often be iffy, but ads in a major community would make it easy.
Post to /r/MechanicalKeyboards with "I run a Mechanical Keyboard company, AMA", and you'll get an epic thread. Post and ad and it might get 2 comments.
Given the hair-raising misogyny, racism, and general terribleness for which reddit’s core users are known, you’d think the company might worry less about alienating them.
Another idea which I saw the Whirlpool forums do in Australia is to only advertise to those who aren't logged in.
If the sub-communities continue to thrive I can't see Reddit fade into obscurity any time soon.